Medical Journals Get Letters From DOJ
By Kristina Fiore, Director of Enterprise & Investigative Reporting, MedPage Today
April 18, 2025
A federal prosecutor sent a letteropens in a new tab or window to a medical journal editor, probing whether the publication is “partisan” when it comes to “various scientific debates.”
Edward R. Martin Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, sent a list of questions to CHEST Editor-in-Chief Peter Mazzone, MD, MPH, of the Cleveland Clinic, asking how the journal handles “misinformation” and “competing viewpoints,” among other things.
MedPage Today has learned that at least two other journals have received similar letters.
“It has been brought to my attention that more and more journals and publications like CHEST Journal are conceding that they are partisans in various scientific debates,” the letter stated.
Martin’s letter asks five questions, including how the journal assesses its “responsibilities to protect the public from misinformation,” and how it “clearly articulate[s] to the public when you have certain viewpoints that are influenced by your ongoing relations with supporters, funders, advertisers, and others.”
It also asks whether the journal accepts manuscripts from “competing viewpoints” as well as how it assesses the role of “funding organizations like the National Institutes of Health in the development of submitted articles.”
Finally, it asks how the journal handles allegations that authors “may have misled their readers.”
“I am also interested to know if publishers, journals, and organizations with which you work are adjusting their method of acceptance of competing viewpoints,” Martin wrote. “Are there new norms being developed and offered?”
Martin requested a response by May 2.
The letter to CHEST was dated April 14 and was originally posted on Xopens in a new tab or window by Eric Reinhart, MD, of Chicago.
Mazzone did not return a request for comment, but the American College of Chest Physicians, which publishes CHEST, confirmed to MedPage Today that it had received the letter and said in an email that its attorneys were reviewing it, and added that the letter’s content “was posted online without our knowledge.”
The American College of Chest Physicians also issued a statementopens in a new tab or window saying that CHEST “has published numerous articles that were breakthroughs in scientific research and clinical treatment, advancing the medical profession and improving the health and well-being of patients worldwide. CHEST adheres to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) and the COPEopens in a new tab or window ethical guidelines for scholarly publishing, applying strict peer review standards to ensure scientific rigor.” The statement concluded, “As the publisher, the American College of Chest Physicians respects and supports the journal’s editorial independence.”
Adam Gaffney, MD, MPH, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Cambridge Health Alliance in Massachusetts, said the letter “should send a chill down the spine of scientists and physicians.”
“It is yet another example of the Trump administration’s effort to control…
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